The Ham Family

Hi all! Happy Easter!

That is if anyone is still checking this. I fell off the wagon updating the blog as you can see. Until I have time for a more in depth update, you’ll have to settle for this….

Well, 2007 is over and it was a busy and hectic year for us with the ups and downs of life. Some of the highlights…

Chris is still working from home for Wachovia in Charlotte. He received his second bachelors degree from WVU in Management Information Systems in May. We celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary a month early in Jamaica by renewing our vows on the beach in August. Garrett started kindergarten in August and is loving it. Ethan is growing into quite the personality and we have quickly learned to adjust to life with his peanut allergy. I am, happily, still enjoying being a stay at home mom to the boys and I definitely keep myself busy by taking care of the family, volunteering regularly at Garrett’s school, and I am a member of the local homeless shelter’s Board of Directors.

To all our family and friends, we hope that your 2007 was great and that your 2008 is even better!

Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends!!!

Here’s a picture of the boys at WVU’s Trunk or Treat. The boys had a blast. Unfortunately a lot of the candy had to be thrown away because of the peanut allergy, but they didn’t mind since they had a lot of fun. Garrett created his own costume this year - a wildlife explorer - while Ethan was appropriately costumed as a monkey. In addition to Trunk or Treat, Garrett had a costume parade and party at school today and both boys trick or treated in our neighborhood this evening.

The pursuit of happiness, do we ever really achieve it or are we always looking for it? Is it an attainable goal for anyone? If you do achieve it, is it short lived in spurts that once the spurt is gone, you are back to pursuing or will you have it forever? Does the pursuit itself make you less happy, because you are too busy pursuing to actually enjoy and be happy about where you are right now?

It seems like today, everyone is chasing it. When people talk, you often hear them say “When I (make more money, get that job, lose weight…) it’s going to be great!” Are there not things right now that are great? The simple blessings in life are often greater than great. If we would just stop and take a moment to open ourselves up and enjoy, we may be the happiest people alive. The pursuit would be pointless at this time because we would have found it and this would be a happiness we could never lose because no matter how bad a situation seems, there are always simple blessings close by if you are willing to stop and look.

Of course, one has to admit that there will sometimes be bad things in our lives. We will have obstacles to overcome and we may not feel very happy. Some things may seem impossible, but as long as you remember those simple everyday blessings, you can use them to pull yourself up and come up with a plan to overcome the obstacle or to find the bright side of a situation and learn from it.

Today I may not be in the greatest of moods due to some things that should be in my control and some that are not, however there are many things in my life that make me happy. Just a few of the simple blessings of my everyday life… my loving husband who works hard and sacrifices so that I can stay home with the kids, my two boys – they are healthy and their laughter and optimism of the world is contagious, my parents are healthy and full of life, my sister (I may not have always said this : ] ) and her family, my health, that I am alive and able to be a part and a witness to my children growing up and being able to grow old with Chris. I guess my simple blessings today would also go to say the sun is shining from the crisp blue autumn sky.

What are your simple blessings in life or are you too busy pursuing happiness to realize it is right in front of you?

I created a new page to document Garrett’s bedtime readings and to help brainstorm new and different book ideas for him. I am looking for anything from classic children’s tales to more contemporary books. I remember reading How to Eat Fried Worms (Thomas Rockwell), Judy Blume books and Ramona Quimby books (Beverly Cleary) among others while Chris remembers Encyclopedia Brown (Donald Sobol), Ramona Quimby (Beverly Cleary) and Henry Huggins (Beverly Cleary) . I really did not get into the classics until I was older and quickly realized what I was missing so I am also trying to expose him to those types at his young age (trying to find those that will keep his interest and not turn him away.) If you know of any good or great children’s books, please let me know. Thanks!

Enjoy and I know I have already said many of these things.

Just in case that doesn’t work, here’s the link.

A couple of weeks ago, Chris and I celebrated our 10th Anniversary. Ten years with some ups & downs, and 2 kids later, it has been a great 10 years for us.

Us in 1997…

Chris and I met at WVU in the Fall of 1994 and started dating. In the Spring of 1997, during his senior sob at the Alpha Phi Omega banquet, Chris proposed and I of course said “yes”. We were married that September. The best decision of both of our lives. We bought a house and lived in Charlotte, where Garrett was born in 2002. When Chris was given the opportunity to move back to WV and work from home, we jumped on it and quickly sold our house and moved back “home”. Within a year, we bought a house and Ethan was born in 2005.

Where am I going with this you ask? Well, we would do it all over again and we did!

In August, we took what one might say was a second honeymoon plus a whole lot more (celebrated our 10th anniversary a little early, Chris receiving his second bachelors degree in May of this year from WVU and Al & Alissa came along to celebrate Al receiving his MBA from London Business School, among other things). We spent about a week at the couples only resort of Sandals Royal Caribbean in Montego Bay, Jamaica (the kids had fun staying with Pap & Grandma). The highlight of the week for Chris and I was being able to have an intimate renewal of vows ceremony on the beach. Here are just a few of our pics from the trip…

The ceremony…

Chris and me enjoying a quiet morning on a beach hammock…

The Martines - Al & Alissa…

The old family web site can still be accessed if you want to see the old pictures of the family and such that were there. You can get to it by clicking here. There is quite a bit on there about Garrett, Chris, and me, but, unfortunately there is not much on there concerning Ethan. It was last updated when he was about 2 months old. Maybe one day I will post on here a sort of time line of pictures of Ethan from his birth to now. ~~ Jen

Garrett is enjoying playing his first season of soccer. He is definitely not afraid to get in there. Here are some pictures from this mornings practice…

He does a great job at goalie in addition to playing on the field well. Here are some shots when he had his turn guarding the goal. He had a great stop and can really throw the ball across the field for his teammates to have an advantage in getting to their goal.